Tumbler or Ultrasonic

[albaran]

I am restoring an old sixties Honda Dream and want a way to clean old rusty nuts, bolts, and other small parts.
I see there are two methods available to do this. There are tumblers that use media and ultrasonic ones that use liquid. Does anyone have opinions on which is best?

 

[flippin]

evaporust

 

[vwpieces]

Neither of those for rust.

Evaporust, whiter vinegar, phosphoric acid, does OK. Muratic acid too but be careful with it, will dissolve parts if left in too long and vapors are harmful.
Wire wheel or media blasting cabinet work also.

 

[Shiftless]

A tumbler would round off all of the edges on the bolt heads. You don’t want that!

I second the vote for Evaporust. I use a lot of it. Overnight soak, rinse off the black crud, brush clean or wire wheel if you want to.

 

[finn]

I have the larger HF bowl type tumbler. It’s pretty useless compared to the commercial type tumbler we used at work.

I wouldn’t recommend it.

 

[FredWanaker]

Well it depends what you expect of this restoration. When I want bolts to look authentic like in a Pebble Beach restoration, I lightly glass bead them then either use a blackening solution, zinc type solution, or plating solutiono restore the original finish. In that case even the bolt type must match the original year and brand etc.. If all you want is a clean bolt, hold them in a pair of vice grips and wire brush. Sometimes if it is not an authentic restoration you can just wire brush the steel bolts and heads, slide them into a hole in a piece of cardboard and paint the heads. Or buy new ones similar to the originals. Belmetric is a good source for metric fasteners.

 

[txvwnut]

I use a mixture of Evaporust and Simple Green in my tumbler for all the hardware I do. I do not use an aggressive media so it does not round off the corners of the hardware. My tumbler of choice for small hardware is the 5lb unit from harbor freight that I did some minor upgrades on to make it tumble properly.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

The ultrasonic cleaner will com in handy for removing dirt and dried grease. Also things like carburetors with small passages.
Agree with the others on evaporust for removing rust. Clean them in the ultrasonic first to make the evaporust last longer.

 

[CTyankee]

Won't the OP still have to deal with the parts flash rusting after cleaning?

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Won't the OP still have to deal with the parts flash rusting after cleaning?

That comes after getting the rust off. Oil, coat, annodize, replate or even paint.

 

[BillK]

The ultrasonic cleaner will not remove rust. As much of a pain that is is I typically glass bead any hardware that I cannot find replacements for if it needs to be original looking.

 

[Firebrick43]

Vapor hone

 

[BillK]

Vapor hone

Fancy name for wet glass beading.

 

[Firebrick43]

Fancy name for wet glass beading.

It can use multiple types of media other than glass beads. And there is a little more than just pouring some water into a blast cabinet. The pumping of the slurry is quite different. But it is wonderful in restoring aluminum motorcycle cases and getting fasteners/metal dodads ready for plating

 

[txvwnut]

Won't the OP still have to deal with the parts flash rusting after cleaning?

I haven’t had an issue with flash rust as the tumbling action polishes the parts which seems to keep that at bay.

 

[PWC Repair]

Depends on how serious the rust is, AND how thick the metal is. Heavy rust on old nuts, bolts, and brackets.....1/4 cup of muriatic acid to every gallon of water....soak overnight....baking soda and water bath the next day to neutralize. DO NOT soft metals like aluminum or magnesium in an acid dip!! Small parts and light rust....I use an ebay ultrasonic cleaner with heat.....fill with white vinegar, crank the heat, run it for an hour and check on it....repeat as necessary. Very thin stuff or large pieces with light rust...evaporust spray down. Large parts with heavy rust....sandblast.

I have a vibratory tumbler too. Haven't used it much but I do have an assortment of HEAVILY rusted engine hardware in it right now with play sand. Looks like a total of 6-8 hours will have it all useable again.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Parts with an oxide coating will be killed by evaporust.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

I'm a huge fan of the ultrasonic cleaner filled with heated and diluted simple green. Replace the solution as soon as it's clody too for the best results. Takes everything down to bare metal eventually, and will even strip paint. I follow it up by a scrub and rinse under the sink, and then a bath in evaporust (time dependent on how rusty the part is).

If the part is really bad, I'll go three stages: stoddard solvent in a bench can to get the worst of the grease off, ultrasonic cleaning with simple green, followed by evaporust. Sometimes the evaporust leaves a funky film after drying, so I'll use WD40 or some other water displacement lubricant to protect the part afterward.

 

[Rt jam]

A tumbler is like sandblasting or sandpaper. It depends on the media used. To say it rounds off corners is wrong.

I have left fasteners and clips in mine overnight and there was no metal lost, only corrosion.

Dri-Polisher Vibratory Tumbler

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[73project]

I restored a Honda 1974 CB350, and I used a soda blaster to clean a lot of the parts. It doesn't degrade the surface being cleaned , and can be cleaned out of areas with regular water. It works good on small parts, as well as cylinder fins, cases, etc.

 

[finn]

A tumbler is like sandblasting or sandpaper. It depends on the media used. To say it rounds off corners is wrong.

I have left fasteners and clips in mine overnight and there was no metal lost, only corrosion.

Dri-Polisher Vibratory Tumbler

Canada's best source for Quality Tools, Equipment and Supplies for Jewellers and the Jewellery Industry. Over 17,000 products available from our 16,000 SF warehouse in Toronto. In-stock orders placed before 3:30pm shipped the same day. Can't find what you are looking for? Call our highly...

www.gessweincanada.com

Not true. We used vibratory bowls and the appropriate abrasive media to clean small parts used in fuel injection equipment. It removed the sharp edges and machining dwarf, ie burrs. Exactly what we wanted.

 

[LMS]

Not true. We used vibratory bowls and the appropriate abrasive media to clean small parts used in fuel injection equipment. It removed the sharp edges and machining dwarf, ie burrs. Exactly what we wanted.

I heard those machining dwarfs can be the worst employees....

 

[finn]

I heard those machining dwarfs can be the worst employees....

Fixed it. Damn autocorrect!